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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26591521">the way to a man's heart (is through almost choking him to death)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caesarion/pseuds/Caesarion'>Caesarion</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>my failed attempt at writing oneshoots [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Muggle, Failed attempt at humor, Fluff, I think this qualify as crack?, I'm Bad At Summaries, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Near Death Experiences, Romance, Tom Riddle-centric, dumb tom riddle is the tom riddle we didn't know we needed, unintentional murder attempt</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 02:32:31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,639</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26591521</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caesarion/pseuds/Caesarion</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A short story of Tom Riddle's failed attempt at being romantic for once after three years of being in a relationship.</p><p>"Harry James Potter," Tom sighed, "Look, I know I almost killed you for trying to propose to you romantically. Well, as you know, I suck at being romantic and all that. But I want to make this memorable for you," he said softly, "And now I realize that I will never succeed in being romantic. I want to be myself who loves you the way you are."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Harry Potter/Tom Riddle</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>my failed attempt at writing oneshoots [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1934392</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>161</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>the way to a man's heart (is through almost choking him to death)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi, this is my first attempt on writing oneshoot. I'm not a native English speaker so there would be some grammar mistakes throughout the story. Feel free to point it out. Happy reading :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tonight is the night.</p><p>The night where he would make up his mind to take one step forward. The night where finally he would anchor the journey of his love life, determining the choice of his heart. The night where he would ask his lover to be his entirely.</p><p>The night he would ask Harry James Potter to be his life partner, one and for all.</p><p>Tom thought, after all the smiles, tears, hopes, affections, and also the love that they had gone through these three years together were enough to make them understand each other’s value. It was definitely not the end though, it was just the beginning. The start of a journey that the two of them would embark on. And Tom believed Harry was meant for him.</p><p>"<em> Bonsoir </em> ," A waiter with a thick moustache and a smile too wide plastered on his face, greeted him in a thick French accent, "Ah, are you going to propose, <em> monsieur </em>?" He chuckled, "Well, how about this, we'll put your ring in her champagne glass while you and your girl enjoy your dinner—"</p><p>"Man."</p><p>The waiter blinked, his mustache twitching a little, "Pardon me?"</p><p>Tom straightened his shoulders, "The person I’m about to propose to is a man,"</p><p>The waiter was silent in his place for a few moments, before clearing his throat and smiled broadly, "Oh, well. <em> Aucun problème </em> ! A proposal is a proposal!" he chuckled, "So… how about it, <em> monsieur </em>?"</p><p>Little did anyone know, Tom sucked at being romantic, let alone at proposing to someone, so of course he would accept any help given to him.</p><p>"It sounds like a great idea,"</p><p>The waiter clapped his hands cheerfully, the smile on his face was even more widened, which was surprisingly possible. Tom began to think that man looked more like one of those serial killer characters at the moment. He pulled out a chair for Tom to sit down, "<em>Oui </em>, I'll bring you two glasses of champagne with a ring on one of them, a few minutes after he comes."</p><p>Tom nodded, slightly wondering whether he should rethink about this plan or not but then again this was not his forte, it would probably much better to follow a random man’s advice. Well, in this case, he should probably listen to anyone but himself,  "Alright, sure."</p><p>As soon as the waiter left, Tom sat alone in his chair, feeling a sudden stab of anxiety in the gut, his heart stumbling over its own rhythm. Several thoughts popped inside his head, <em> 'What if Harry doesn't come?', 'What if Harry doesn't love me that much?' </em> , let alone <em> 'What if Harry refuses to marry me?' </em> And by the way, <em> 'Where on earth is Harry now?' </em></p><p>Tom glanced at his watch then slightly fixed the tie that wrapped around his neck. Well, he wasn’t exactly the type of guy who cared too much about his appearance, he was no Draco Malfoy after all, but since Harry once told him that he looked way ‘sexier’ in a tie, he decided to wear it, especially for tonight.</p><p>But seriously though, where was his boyfriend now? Hadn’t they made a pact to meet half an hour ago?</p><p>Perhaps Tom should've told his father not to overwork his personal assistant so that Harry didn’t have to be late like this—because hell, Tom was nervous to death at the moment.</p><p>Tom leaned back against the chair and closed his eyes. His mind began to wander, intending to reminisce a little.</p><p>He met Harry three years ago, on an ordinarily sunny afternoon, to be precise, in the lobby of his father's company. His father invited him to attend a meeting of the board of directors as a potential successor to the company. Tom wasn’t exactly what you could call a morning person, so when he realized that he was an hour and a half late from the scheduled meeting, he rushed to the room where the meeting would be held without paying attention to literally anything around his way.</p><p>Fifteen minutes and thirty seconds later, that was when he met...err, no, more like bumped into a seemingly petite body of Harry James Potter who was carrying a cup of black coffee for the CEO on his hand, causing the thick, caffeinated black liquid to fall and soak all over the young man’s shirt. Yes, literally all of them.</p><p>If you thought that said the young man would beg for forgiveness for bumping into the future successor of the company he was working in, you were totally wrong. Instead, Harry slapped him.</p><p>Right.</p><p>He slapped him. One slap, right on his left cheek.</p><p>No one, but this young man apparently, had had the audacity to do such a thing to Tom <em> motherfucking </em> Riddle.</p><p>That was when Tom felt his world stopped spinning and suddenly, everything focused on the young man as if he became his sun in the moment, the one thing that Tom would always orbit around.  He noticed that the young man’s eyes were as green as his mother's pet snake. When the young man kept staring at him, even in a loathing way, his skin froze. He did not, could not look away. Well, that sounds a bit hyperbolic doesn’t it?  But, really, Tom swore that he really felt like there was another sensation other than the slight pain when the young man touched his skin. That was what you probably could call....love at first slap?</p><p>Then Tom, whose sneaky instincts emerged all of sudden, intended to take an advantage in this particular situation by offering to buy a new shirt for the young man and buy him another cup of coffee.</p><p>Harry immediately refused. He kept swearing at Tom, threatening to complain to the CEO of the company without knowing the fact that the person he was dragging forcefully along the corridor was his boss’s son.</p><p>Tom clearly enjoyed the way Harry, with a face flushed in anger, stormed to his boss and aggressively informed the said boss that an ill-mannered bloke had bumped into him and spilled his coffee all over his shirt. But Tom preferred Harry's stunned face with a hint of blush on his cheeks when his boss told him that the said ill-mannered bloke was his only son, Tom Riddle, the future successor of the company.</p><p>Tom chuckled to himself as he went to the memory lane. Who would have thought that the bloke the young man used to swear at would end up being his lover?</p><p>"Can I safely assume that you’re definitely worth being shipped to an asylum?"</p><p>Tom looked up and smiled broadly, "Hello, love."</p><p>Harry smiled back, then a second later his lips turned pursed. "Sorry, I'm late."</p><p>Tom got up from his chair and pulled the chair across from him for Harry to sit down, after briefly kissing the young man's lips, "It's alright, please sit down."</p><p>As Harry sat down, Tom could not help but stare at the astonishing details of Harry’s appearance. His boyfriend had a smooth yet angular jaw, long dark  eyelashes, moon-like pale skin and his nose stately and slightly Grecian. The combination of black colour of his hair and moon-like pale colour gave him an otherworldly glow, almost faerie-like. So beautiful. Sinfully beautiful. It certainly wasn’t their first meeting but Tom would always have that impression of his beloved. Oh, and look how dazzling Harry looked even though he was only wearing his work clothes that looked a little bit wrinkled. </p><p>After Tom returned to his seat, Harry looked at him with raised eyebrows, "So, where's the drink?"</p><p>Tom smirked secretively, "Just wait," he said, "So, what made you late?"</p><p>Harry ran his fingers through the slightly wet strands of his messy dark hair. He let out a long sigh, trying to normalize his breathing which was still a little hurried. Although to be honest, Tom actually quite enjoyed the sight that was presented right in front of him; Harry was panting with dots of sweat on his face. Which reminded him of when they fuc—</p><p>"You know, just some paperworks. Honestly, it sucks dealing with all those documents, and Mr. Riddle wanted me to work on it as soon as possible. And guess when the deadline is, this Friday! I haven’t even started on the other documents he shoved to me last week. Your father is cruel, he literally belongs in hell. But then again, a workplace is basically hell so it kind of makes sense." Harry waved his hand indifferently as he kept ranting. But as if there was some sort of alarm inside his head since as he realized what he just said, he hurriedly smiled awkwardly at Tom, "Errr...please, don't tell your father I said that, okay?"</p><p>Tom chuckled and agreed silently, "Well, what else did my father tell you to do?"</p><p>"Well, other than those bloody documents, your father wasted three hours of my time at board meetings," Harry groaned, "I'm too young to die of boredom."</p><p>"Well, you're his personal assistant, it's your job," Tom put his chin on his palm and smiled wickedly, "Besides, I'm sure you understand whatever that stupid meeting was about even better than my father does."</p><p>Harry chuckled. There were times when he and Tom liked to talk about Tom Riddle Sr., Tom's father as well as Harry’s boss, well, behind the man’s back of course. Harry looked around, his doe-like green eyes wandering around the fancy French-styled restaurant, hoping he could find a waiter to bring him some drink or whatever because for God's sake, he was thirsty!</p><p>"<em> Bonsoir messieurs </em>," The thick moustached waiter from earlier finally approached their table and grinned broadly, "What would you like to order?"</p><p>"I’d like the Boeuf Bourguignon, please," Tom replied.</p><p>"I’ll have the same," Harry said, smiling back to the waiter.</p><p>"<em>Très bien </em>!" The waiter nodded and then clapped his hands in the air, signaling to two other  people in the corner of the room to bring two glasses full of champagne and a bottle. He bowed slightly, winked at Tom before disappearing to God knows where. Tom lifted the champagne into the air and pitted the glass against Harry’s.</p><p>Harry snorted, "Looks like the waiter has a crush on you."</p><p>Tom choked, "I-I beg your pardon?"</p><p>"Well, he just gave you a wink!" Harry said sulkily as he crossed his arms and pouted like a child. Now that’s adorable.</p><p>“Well, I’ve already got you, haven’t I? Why would I look at another man while I have such a beauty as you as my lover?” Tom teased as he lightly pinched one of Harry’s cheeks.</p><p>“Shut up,” Harry said softly as he pushed Tom’s hand while he was looking down with a blush flared on his cheeks and biting his lip to hold his smile.</p><p>Now that Tom decided to put the teasing aside now, the nervousness that had faded earlier now resurfaced. His heart started beating rapidly.</p><p>
  <em> ‘All right, this is it. You got this Tommy.’ </em>
</p><p>Tom took a deep breath and lowered his head. He closed his eyes tightly and squeezed his pants under the table.</p><p>"Harry, I have something to tell you."</p><p>"What is it?" Harry stared curiously at Tom, He brought his glass to his lips to take a sip of his champagne—of course, without realizing there was 'something' in the glass.</p><p>"You know, we've been together for quite a while. I know your family and you know mine . Well, you also know the fact I love you so much and I'm one hundred percent sure that you feel the same way about me—"</p><p>"Yes, of course." Harry replied as he took a second sip.</p><p>"—I want you to spend the rest of your life with me. I can't promise you anything, but I'll try my best to make you happy and I won't cheat on you—"</p><p>"Yes, then?" third sip.</p><p>"—So what I'm trying to say is...will you marry me?"</p><p>Harry choked all of sudden. His eyeballs widened instantly as he felt his throat caught in something <em>solid</em> in there.</p><p>"T-Tom!"</p><p>After hearing Harry's deft voice, Tom smiled smugly, thinking that his beloved must be surprised to find a ring in his glass. "Yes, yes, I know you must be surprised. Rings are expensive, you know. I know I'm not a romantic type but I try my best, and I'll do anything for you—"</p><p>"T-Tom!" Harry patted his chest broke there, hoping that something that was choking his neck could come out right now.</p><p>Tom shook his head firmly, his eyelids still tightly closed, "—and I realize that sometimes I can be annoying, yes, I admit it. I tend to irritate you as well. I also know that you have an unhealthy obsession with treacle tarts, but I don't mind at all. I believe I can buy you the best treacle tarts you’ll ever taste since I can’t bake— "</p><p>"T-Tom!"</p><p>"—Don't cut me just yet, Harry. I'm not finished—"</p><p>"TOM!"</p><p>Tom finally opened his eyes. He could see Harry with a completely flushed face and watery eyes, tightly gripping his chest. He glanced at the young man's champagne glass which was empty but no rings were seen inside of it. It took Tom a several seconds to realize what was happening.</p><p>Harry, who was coughing furiously at the moment…</p><p>The empty glass…</p><p>The ring was no longer inside the glass...</p><p>
  <em> ‘Which means…’ </em>
</p><p>"SHIT!"</p><p>Tom jumped from his chair and rushed towards Harry's chair. He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s abdomen and performed the <em> Heimlich Maneuver </em> technique. He tapped it several times until finally the shimmering object that had been stuck in Harry’s throat was thrown onto the porcelain plate in front of him, making a loud jingling sound.</p><p>Harry and Tom both breathed a sigh of relief.</p><p>Harry wiped his eyelids which were flooded with tears with the back of his hand. He buried his face in Tom's chest who was standing beside him, stroking his back, "God, what was that?" Harry turned his head to see what object that almost choked him to death earlier. His eyes widened as he finally got the glimpse of the said object.</p><p>"Tom, isn't that...a ring?"</p><p>Tom sighed and nodded softly, "Yes, it is."</p><p>"You…did you just propose to me?" Even though he almost died, Harry still managed to smile, "And you were trying to be romantic for once by putting that bloody ring in my glass?"</p><p>"Yes," Tom's face flushed red, but a second later he snorted, "If only you had noticed before you drank your champagne," he grumbled.</p><p>Harry giggled. He reached out to cup Tom's cheeks and brought his face closer, " Well, do you want to do it again? Without trying to kill me this time?"</p><p>Tom rolled his eyes, but a smile appeared on his face. He took the ring back and wiped it with a napkin before kneeling in front of his boyfriend. He tried so hard not to pay attention to the gazes of those around them.</p><p>"Harry James Potter," Tom sighed, "Look, I know I almost killed you for trying to propose to you romantically. Well, as you know, I suck at being romantic and all that. But I want to make this memorable for you," he said softly, "And now I realize that I will never succeed in being romantic. I want to be myself who loves you the way you are."</p><p>Tom could hear someone swooning from across the room.</p><p>"So Harry," He stretched out his ring in front of Harry's face, looked at the beloved face earnestly, "Will you do the honour of marrying me?"</p><p>And one kiss from the green eyed beauty who happened to be the one he held close to heart the most was enough of an answer.</p>
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